In a vote held last week, the nurses chose “overwhelmingly”to join the ONA, which represents over 55,000 registered nurses in Ontariohospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, industryand clinics.

"ONA prides itself on being the leading voice of and anadvocate for registered nurses and allied health professionals inOntario," said ONA president Linda Haslam-Stroud. “We welcome our newmembers from Trillium Health Centre and look forward to providing excellentservice to them."

Earlier in the month, Trillium Health Centre and CreditValley Hospital announced a plan to merge by April 2012. The merge is awaitingapproval by the Local Health Integration Network, which oversees localhealthcare planning and spending for the Ontario government.